Abstract: Plants balance the needs of growth, reproduction, and competition with the need to defend themselves against microbes and herbivores. Individual plants or species have an array of mechanical and chemical defenses, some of which also have a role in growth and development. Plants have inducible defenses against pathogens and herbivores, which in effect parallels that of animals. The environment (or resource availability) affects the level and type of plant defenses. Plant diversity and feeding specialization by herbivore species reflect the intimate co-evolutionary history of plants and herbivores. The defense of plants and offensive-counter by herbivores play a major role in shaping ecosystems. Humans counter plant defense in various ways (mainly geophagy, cooking, and plant breeding), and so now are less aware of how plant defenses (or lack thereof) can affect us.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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